I do not think it is at all hypocritical for the administration to condemn the leaks. The government has a right, and many times a responsibility, to keep internal documents secretive. I do agree that there are likely many documents classified as secret, even though they probably do not need to be, because they might be embarrassing, but that is a whole different issue than the WikiLeaks release.
I think the documents leaked that are seen as embarrassing to American officials are inconsequential. Everybody already knows that Silvio Berlusconi likes to have sex with young women and that Muammar Gaddafi is crazy. Those statements, and ones like them referring to European, South and Central American or Canadian officials will have no long-term negative impact on foreign policy or international relations of the United States. NATO, NAFTA and the Organization of American States will keep it that way.
The main problems with the leak are those documents involving Arab and Middle Eastern officials. The United States has two wars in the region, along with the hunt for terrorist organizations, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the potentially nuclear Iran, and petroleum and other economic interests at stake.
Some of the WikiLeaks documents have revealed secret conversations between American diplomats and Arab heads of state. Those leaks will be damaging at best, devastating at worst, to the United States.
Take for example the cable describing the conversation U.S. diplomats had with Ali Abdullah Saleh, the president of Yemen. He agreed to let the U.S. military attack known terrorist camps on Yemeni soil, but the government would tell the people it was their own military.
This kind of cooperation has been rare between Arab leaders and the West, and many Arab people might be opposed to this relationship. It is paramount to national defense to keep the Arab governments on the side of the United States. That conversation was supposed to be in confidence, but it is now front-page international news. This will undoubtedly cause President Saleh and other Arab officials to lose trust in the United States, and in addition to not supporting its efforts publicly, they might cease supporting its efforts privately as well. This is a dangerous situation, only intensified by all of the important interests the U.S. has in the region.
So you see, this document leak is much more significant than just some embarrassing anecdotes from low-level diplomats; the interests and security of the United States and the future of the Middle East could be at stake.
—Steven Rosenbaum
junior
